Origi ns of the Royal Arch Ritual

After the death of King Solomon (960-922 BC) the Kingdom was divided into two, with 10 tribes in the north forming Israel and two tribes in the south forming Judah. The northern kingdom of Israel, capital Samaria, had been overwhelmed by the Assyrians in 721 BC. The people were partly carried off and the country resettled by Assyrians and others who eventually intermarried with the locals thus forming, in the eyes of the people of Judah, an impure race and no longer part of the “chosen people”.

Meanwhile, the kingdom of Judah had been going through some bad times but, when Josiah became king in 640 BC, he instituted a revival of the true religious ceremonies and sought to restore Judah to the true ways of scriptural teaching. His people saw him as a messenger of God and it was a great shock to them when he was killed in battle fighting against the Egyptians. Eventually the victorious Egyptians forced the Judeans to accept Jehoachim as King. Jehoachim had to pay heavy tributes to the Egyptians and soon the religious work, instigated by Joshua, was ignored. It is against this background that the many warnings of the prophet Jeremiah were given.

By this time the Assyrian empire had largely broken up and a new power was rising in Babylon where Nabopolasser had declared himself independent in 625 BC. He subdued what is now Syria and parts of Turkey and advanced down the coast through Tyre and Sidon until his death in 604 BC. He was succeeded by his son Nebuchadnezzar who continued the campaign through the Gaza Strip and eventually besieged Jerusalem in 603 BC. Jehoachim was now f orced to pay tributes to Nebuchadnezzar, sometimes given as the start of the 70 year exile. Two years later , Jehoachim joined forces with the Egyptians against Nebuchadnezzar but was defeated and killed. His son Jehoachim surrendered to the Babylonians and was led into captivity in Babylon with approximately 1000 of his people, mostly nobles, soldiers, some priests and workmen such as blacksmiths and armourers.

Following further unrest in Jerusalem, and another alliance with Egypt against Nebuchadnezzar in 589 BC, the Babylonian army again laid siege to Jerusalem and, after 18 months, tore down the walls, looted and destroyed the temple and royal palace, and carried-off the majority of people to Babylon. The people of Judah now settled in areas around Babylon, initially in a state of despair, but many found refuge in their faith thanks to the prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah who remembered the teachings and warnings of Jeremiah In time though, many Judeans began to prosper and enjoyed living in Babylon and even adopted the Aramaic language in preference to their own Hebrew tongue.

Nebuchadnezzar died in 561 BC and his successors were not up to the task of ruling the empire, and imperial power gradually broke down. The northern part fell to the Medes who expanded through the region. Part of the Median empire was Persia and a new dynasty was emerging led by Cyrus. Cyrus defeated and then assimilated the Medes, defeated the fabulously rich Croesus of Lydia, and marched on Babylon. He entered Babylon unopposed on 29th August 539 BC.

In the following year Cyrus issued his famous edict to free the exiles from captivity to allow the Temple at Jerusalem to be rebuilt, and the holy vessels to be returned. The reasons for this are threefold. Firstly, he did not want to impose a single religion on any of his subjects, secondly, Cyrus believed he could rule through loyalty rather than fear, and finally, he needed Judah to be a strong point in his empire as it was his southern boundary with Egypt, who remained a major threat.

The first wave of returning exiles set out in 536 BC led by the son of Jehoachim Probably 1000 people in all, mostly connected with work at the Temple but, with only four priestly families. They found a very hostile reception from those still occupying the land, especially the Samaritans who had been put in charge of Jerusalem. They also had to contend with famine and drought and it was no surprise that more exiles did not join them (who were doing rather well in Babylon!).

Work on the Temple began but, refusing help from the Samaritans who they considered to be impure (hence the reference in our ritual of not allowing any strangers to partake in the work), it was slow going and they soon became disheartened. The Samaritans retaliated by sending word to the new king of Persia saying that the returned exiles were plotting against him and Cyrus ordered the work to stop.

In 520 BC Darius assumed power and a second and much larger wave of exiles returned to Jerusalem led by Zerubbabel, grandson of Jehoachim assisted by Joshua the High Priest and Haggai the prophet.

This is where your story begins.........

(The work restarted and the temple was finally completed in 515 BC.) www.durhamfreemasons.org